HANNINGTON
Haniton (xi cent.); Hanygton (xiv cent.).
Hannington lies between Walgrave and Holcot,
and is 5 miles south-east from Lamport station. Two
roads, from which other roads branch, run south
through the parish from Walgrave, and the village,
which is small and compact, lies on the easternmost of
these. It is very pleasantly situated, and has several
good houses and cottages, and a plentiful supply of
excellent water.
The church stands high at the western end of the
village, with the rectory to the south of it. The school
(public elementary, mixed), to the north of it was built
in 1871 for 35 children, at the sole expense of the lord
of the manor. A little east of the church is the Manor
Farm, on the farther side of a small Nonconformist
chapel erected in 1865, but now closed. Hannington Grange lies away by itself at the north-eastern
extremity of the parish. There is an old quarry at the
opposite end of the village. The parish has an area of
1,248 acres. Its soil is red marl and clay: its subsoil
shale and gravel. The chief crops grown are wheat and
barley, and there is some land in pasture. The population, which in 1801 was 144 and was 222 in 1871, was
114 in 1931.
A notable rector was Thomas Godwin (1517–90),
afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose son,
Francis Godwin, D.D. (1562–1633), the historian,
Bishop of Llandaff and Hereford, was born here.
Manor
Three virgates in HANNINGTON were
entered in the Domesday Survey among the
lands of the Countess Judith in Willybrook
Hundred. (fn. 1) This property, increased to 1½ hides, was
returned in the 12th-century Northamptonshire Survey
as held of the Countess Judith's successor King David (fn. 2)
of Scotland, and the overlordship descended with
the honor of Huntingdon.
In, or before, the first half of the 13 th century the
family of Preston, of Preston Deanery (q.v.), had
obtained the lordship of two fees in Preston, Wootton,
Quinton, and Hannington, which in 1242 were held
of the honor of Huntingdon by Gilbert de Preston. (fn. 3)
These fees descended to Thomas de Preston, who was
holding half a fee in Boughton and Hannington in
1375, (fn. 4) but in 1428 the fee which Thomas de Preston
held in Wootton, Quinton, and Hannington was held
by John Longvile and Geoffrey Bald; (fn. 5) and after this
no more is heard of this intermediate lordship.
In the inquisition taken in 1274 after the death of
Gilbert de Preston, three properties held under him in
Hannington were recorded: namely, 3 virgates held by
Simon son of Ralph de Hannington by homage and
suit of court; 2 virgates held by Simon de Seymour by
homage, service of a pound of cummin and suit of court;
and half a virgate held by Simon le Fu of Hannington
by the like service; (fn. 6) and these lands were assigned to
Gilbert's widow Alice in dower. (fn. 7)
Simon de Hannington, under-tenant of the Prestons
in 1274, came of a family which had probably been
present in Hannington from an early date. Sarah de
Hannington was dealing with lands in Hannington in
1227, (fn. 8) as were Simon son of Herbert de Hannington
in 1258, (fn. 9) and William son of Simon de Hannington
in 1268. (fn. 10) Simon son of Ralph de Hannington, referred
to above, claimed view of frankpledge here in 1275–6. (fn. 11)
Ralph de Hannington, who was recorded with William
Wardedeu as holding lands in Hardwick and Hannington in 1316, (fn. 12) was probably the Ralph de Hannington
who enfeoffed of the manor of Hannington Master
Roger Broun, who enfeoffed thereof William Broun,
father of the William Broun by whom this manor was
held in 1329–30, when the said William claimed view
of frankpledge and assize of bread and ale, and other
liberties appurtenant to this manor, as held of the honor
of Huntingdon. (fn. 13) The manor passed in some way to
Roger Wakyrley, whose son and heir John in 1381
granted all the lands he had in the vill of Hannington
by inheritance from his father to Sir Richard Waldegrave, (fn. 14) who had a grant of free warren in Walgrave,
Hannington, and Sywell in 1383. (fn. 15) Sir Richard Waldegrave in 1428 paid subsidy for the quarter fee William
Broun formerly held. (fn. 16) His successor Richard Waldegrave was holding this manor as the manor of BROWNS
in Hannington in 1445, when with his wife Joan he
conveyed it to William Tresham, (fn. 17) to whom in the
following year John Morys of Trumpington, co. Cambridge, released all right in the manor of Hannington. (fn. 18)
The attainder and forfeiture in 1472–3 of Sir Thomas
Tresham, to whom, with Sywell, this manor had
descended, resulted in its being granted on 2 May 1480
to the king's servant Edward Brampton. (fn. 19) But it returned to the Treshams on the reversal of his attainder,
and descended with Rushton (q.v.) in the Tresham
family until in 1597 it was conveyed to Valentine
Acton by Sir Thomas Tresham and Merilla his wife,
Francis Tresham, esq., Lewis Tresham, gent., and
William Tresham, gent., sons of Sir Thomas. (fn. 20) In 1615
Valentine Acton and his son Nathaniel conveyed the
manor to William Wilmer (fn. 21) of Sywell, and Hannington
again descended with Sywell, (fn. 22) with which manor it was
held in 1725 by William Wilmer and his wife Mary. (fn. 23)
The manor came later into the hands of the Fremeaux of Kingsthorpe and was devised under trust by
Peter John Fremeaux of Kingsthorpe, who died in
1784, (fn. 24) to Thomas Boddington (who on 16 March
1764 married Maria Catherine Fremeaux) and others.
Thomas Boddington was returned as lord of the manor
at the Inclosure Act of 1802, (fn. 25) and died, aged 85,
in 1821. (fn. 26) Susanna, daughter and heir of Peter John
Fremeaux, married in 1799 Thomas Reeve Thornton
of Brockhall (fn. 27) and died in 1846, her husband in 1862.
Their second son and ultimate heir, the Rev. Thomas
Cook Thornton, M.A., of Brockhall, held the manor
until his death unmarried in 1884. Hannington then
passed to his nephew Francis Hugh Thornton, of
Kingsthorpe, the third son of his brother the Rev.
William Thornton of Kingsthorpe Hall, (fn. 28) and Francis
H. Thornton is now lord of the manor.
A quarter fee in Hannington held of the honor of
Huntingdon in 1241 by Ingram Wardedieu (fn. 29) had come
to him from his brother Richard. (fn. 30) They may have
been sons of William 'Warde Deu', who was dealing
with lands here in 1227. (fn. 31) Ingram must have died in
or before 1242, when his son William was holding the
quarter fee; (fn. 32) and William's son Henry, who had succeeded his father but was under age in 1260, (fn. 33) was
holdingin 1284. (fn. 34) Henry had been succeeded in 1312 (fn. 35)
by William Wardedieu, who was still holding this
quarter fee in 1316, (fn. 36) but in 1325 had given place to
Henry Wardedieu. (fn. 37) Simon de Kelmarsh and his wife
Sarra, widow of William Wardeu, were holding the
manor of Hannington in 1329–30, for life of Sarra,
with reversion to John Wardeu, son and heir of William,
then a minor. (fn. 38) A John Wardeu was holding this quarterfee in 1348, (fn. 39) andagain in 1376. (fn. 40) These were probably the two Johns referred to in a covenant of 1347
for the marriage of John son and heir of John Wardeu
to Margaret daughter of Sir Waryn Latimer, and for a
settlement of the manor on them. (fn. 41) The Hannington
manor was settled in 1378 on Sir Edward Dalingrigge
and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heir of John
Wardedieu. (fn. 42) Sir Edward's son Sir John in 1394
granted, or mortgaged, these manors to Thomas Beston
and Hugh Catesby. (fn. 43) The quarter fee which John
Wardeu had formerly held was in 1428 in the hands
of Richard Waldegrave and William Tresham and
held severally by them. (fn. 44) William Tresham on 10
November 1441 received a grant of free warren in all
the lands and woods which he held in demesne and in
reversion in Rushton, Sywell, and Hannington and
elsewhere in the county, (fn. 45) and when Browns Manor
was conveyed to him by Richard Waldegrave, in 1445,
this presumably completed the transfer to him of the
whole of Hannington, which from that date appears in
one ownership.
Half a hide in Hannington was held before the
Conquest by Edwin freely, and in 1086 was held of the
Count of Mortain by William [de Cahagnes]. (fn. 46) This
half hide was returned in the 12th century as held of
the fee of the Earl of Leicester, (fn. 47) and in 1236–42 was
entered among the fees of Simon de Montfort, Earl of
Leicester, as a quarter fee held by Henry de Mawr or
Seymour. (fn. 48) According to a return of 1235 a small fee
in Creton, Holdenby, and Hannington was held by
William le Faukener of the fee of Keynes, (fn. 49) but there
is no other trace of this Faukener lordship.
William de Seymour, who had acquired from
Gerard de Dudinton 6¾ virgates of land, as a quarter
of a knight's fee, in Hannington in 1195–6, (fn. 50) was the
father (fn. 51) of the Henry de Seymour holding under Simon
de Montfort. They seem to have held part of their
estate under the chief manor from the Prestons, as in
1293 Simon de Seymour was holding 2 virgates in
Hannington from Gilbert de Preston. (fn. 52) A William de
Seymour complained against John Waldegrave and his
brother Richard in 1324 that they, with William, parson of Chalfont, and others, had assaulted him at Milton
when on his way to his home at Hannington from the
court at Northampton. (fn. 53) On 28 September 1326
William son of William de Seymour of Hannington
received pardon for breakingthe castle of Rockingham, (fn. 54)
and in the following year the King committed to
William de Seymour of Hannington the county and
castle of Northampton. (fn. 55)
Robert Seymour of Hannington went on campaign
in France with Edward III, and a general pardon, for
good service in the war in France, was granted him at
Calais by the King on 4 September 1346 on condition
of his remaining in the King's service 'so long as he shall
stay this time on this side the seas'. (fn. 56)
In 1364 complaint was made by William Sywardly
that Thomas Seymour had poached in his fishery of
Hannington, taking bream, perch, tench, and pike to
the value of 100s. (fn. 57) This is the last record of a Hannington Seymour that survives.
Church
The church of ST. PETER AND
ST. PAUL stands on high ground above
the road in the middle of the village and
consists of chancel, 29 ft. 9 in. by 15 ft. 2 in.; nave,
44 ft. by 30 ft.; north porch and embattled west tower,
these measurements being internal. The plan of the
nave is unusual, being divided longitudinally into two
equal aisles (fn. 58) by a lofty arcade of three pointed arches
which supports the ridge of the roof and abuts against
the end walls above the chancel and tower arches. The
tower sits over the west wall with external and inner
arches, and measures 6 ft. 9 in. (north to south) by
5 ft. 3 in. internally at the bell-chamber stage. The
church, which was restored in 1868–9, (fn. 59) is built of
rubble and has a slated eaved roof to the nave. The
chancel has plain parapets and a tiled roof.
With the exception of the upper stage of the tower,
which is of the 14th century, the whole of the building
dates from the last quarter of the 13th century, but the
round-headed south doorway probably belongs to a
previous small 12th-century church.
Plan of Hannington Church
The chancel has short diagonal buttresses of a single
stage and an east window of three lights with tracery
formed by the forking and intersection of the mullions.
There is a similar window on the north side and two on
the south, all with hood-moulds, and a keel-shaped
string at sill level goes all round the chancel and nave.
At the west end of the south wall is a rectangular lowside window, and a similar one opposite in the north
wall, both equally splayed inside and now glazed. (fn. 60) The
piscina has a fluted bowl under a trefoil arch with
moulded hood, and the pointed arches of the two
sedilia have dog-tooth in the hollow moulding and
rest on a middle shaft with moulded capital and base,
and on hollow-chamfered jambs. In the north wall is
a rectangular aumbry and farther east a small arched
recess. The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders,
the innermost springing from half octagon responds
with moulded capitals and chamfered bases. Across the
opening is a late-14th-century traceried screen, with
doors, and solid lower panels.
The plan of the nave is very regular, with north and
south doorways opposite each other, two windows
similar to those in the chancel in the north and south
walls, and at the west end two lancets, one on either
side of the tower. The arches of the arcade are of two
chamfered orders springing from circular pillars with
moulded capitals and bases, and dying into, or abutting
against the east and west walls as already noted. In the
north wall are two tall lockers for banner staves and
processional cross, and in the usual position at the east
end of the south wall a trefoiled piscina with fluted
bowl. All the walls are plastered internally.
The south doorway has a semicircular arch of two
chamfered orders with hood and imposts, the outer
order on jamb shafts with moulded bases and scalloped
capitals. The north doorway has a pointed arch of two
continuous chamfered orders, the nave string-course
serving as a hood-mould. The porch has a slated eaved
roof and moulded gable coping, with modern apex cross.
The tower is of three stages, with lofty external
western arch of two chamfered orders dying into the wall,
below which is a pointed doorway of
three orders, the two outer on shafts
with moulded capitals and bases. The
upper stage is of dressed stone, in
contrast to the older rubble below,
and the bell-chamber windows are of
two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil in
the head. The arch to the nave
springs from moulded corbels and is
of two chamfered orders.
The 13th-century font has a plain
octagonal bowl moulded on the upper
and lower edges and lined with lead.
The oak pulpit is coeval with the
chancel screen, and is a well-preserved
and interesting example, in plan a half
octagon, with narrow traceried panels.
There are no monuments.
In the tower are two bells, and a
priest's bell cast in 1868. The first
bell is of early-16th-century date
from the Leicester foundry and is inscribed 'Love
horteth not': the second is dated 1615, and bears the
stamp of Hugh Watts and the inscription 'Celorum
Chrste platiat tibi rex sonus iste'. (fn. 61)
The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten
c. 1570, and a flagon of 1882. (fn. 62)
The registers begin in 1538, the entries of baptisms,
marriages, and burials being recorded together until 1706.
There are churchwardens' accounts beginning in 1710.
Advowson
The church of Hannington was
valued at £4 6s. 8d. in 1291, (fn. 63) and the
rectory in 1535 was returned at
£11 1s. 8d. (fn. 64)
The advowson was held at an early date by the
convent of Sempringham in Lincolnshire; the prior
made the presentation in 1223, (fn. 65) and continued to do
so until on 15 October 1320 the convent received
licence to alienate it in mortmain to the Bishop of
Lincoln, (fn. 66) by whom it was held until transferred to the
bishopric of Peterborough in 1852. In 1853 the rectory
was separated from that of Walgrave, to which it had
formerly been annexed. (fn. 67)
An Inclosure Act was passed in 1802 (fn. 68) and an allotment made in lieu of glebe and tithes, &c.